Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Distinct

I've had some knee injuries that, while they weren't necessarily memorable, were certainly distinct.

Once, I ran a marathon and finished with no problem. The following Friday, I was bowling at a team business event when I felt something give in my left knee.

That turned out to be a torn meniscus.

About ten years later, I was carrying Eli's hockey bag (maybe Eli 9.5) across the parking lot at the Cedar Park Center. Walking. Took a step, felt something give. That was my right meniscus, and it was also torn.

In both cases, the meniscus was so close to being torn that anything could have done it, anything meaning "almost nothing". Surgical repair, and almost new.

On Sunday, after working out for about five days in a row, I decided to take the day off. I spent two hours at the rink because, well, a normal day, and when Eli went to Mom's to visit, I came back home and started testing the game on the couch, courtesy of Eli's Ultrabook. Turned on the Red Zone Channel, switched to the blizzard game in Philadelphia, and had a very nice hour or so.

Then I decided to get up.

When I did, I felt something bad in my right knee. Severe pain, hard to locate, and it was almost impossible for me to walk for the first few minutes.

Three days later, it still hurts like hell.

My physical therapist worked on me yesterday, and all she can figure out is that something appears to have happened under the kneecap. So it's not an ACL, which is good, but the pain level tells me something not good is going on.

I was able to swim about half a mile today, but barely kicked at all. Funny thing was it felt at least slightly better when I was done.

I'm going to the orthopedist on Monday.

I'm just hoping I can get a shot or something and no surgery this time. Too much going on to toss surgery into the salad.